


Fireball

by FitofPaige, uwa-so-frisk (disillusionist9)



Series: Spitfire [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Content, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, F/M, Fire, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frisk is Nonbinary, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Internal Conflict, Love, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Past Relationship(s), Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, SHE HERE TOO, Slow Burn, Smut, So thats gonna happen, Spitfire - Freeform, Veteran Grillby, Well not yet - Freeform, but it will happen, egg, heats are a thing now, lol, reader has nickname, remember Alex from Spitfire?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-03-16 02:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13626759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FitofPaige/pseuds/FitofPaige, https://archiveofourown.org/users/disillusionist9/pseuds/uwa-so-frisk
Summary: THIS IS A COMPANION FIC TO MY SANS/READER, SPITFIRE!!! :D (No need to read it first though! Important plot will be touched on here.)A really shitty day ends with an even shittier date, but at least the food at Grillby's is good. But when your date takes a turn for the sleazy, you ask the hot bartender for some help, and accidentally befriend a skeleton and his girlfriend along the way. It's a moment you'll never forget, mostly because they won't stop calling you 'Angel', never calling you by your actual name ever again.





	1. Angel Shot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HEY! REMEMBER SPITFIRE?!  
> DO YOU WANT MORE OF THAT WORLD?  
> HERE YA GO!!!  
> (And if you've never read it, it's a Sans/Reader fic I wrote a while back. I recommend reading it first, BUT, it is not needed.)
> 
> Alex is back, and obviously still with Sans, but now there's a new Reader who will end up with Grillby... probably ;)
> 
> Please leave a comment below! I hope you're excited as I am about this!!  
> Enjoy!  
> -Paige

How could this day get any worse?

First, your asshole boss fires you from your shitty retail job, the only thing paying your bills, all because he couldn’t put up with your clumsiness and shitty handwriting. Nevermind that you have dyslexia. Prick. Good fucking riddance, you think. That guy was an absolute disaster to work for, anyway.

But now you need to find another job, or you’ll lose your apartment and have nowhere to live. Saving has been almost impossible for months now. Tomorrow, you’re gonna have to start seriously looking for jobs, but for now you have a date…

And it, like your former job, has gone to absolute shit. 

You met this guy through an online dating service, and he seemed nice at first, but now that you’re here with him, he feels like a total creep. He keeps wanting to hold your hand, even when you’ve clearly shown him you aren’t comfortable with it, and he’s already talking about where he’s going to take you on the second date, and beyond. Some of the things he’s implying and assuming are making your skin crawl. There’s red flags popping up everywhere, so you’re making sure to keep an eye on your drinks in case he tries drugging you.

The one thing you don’t fault him for is his taste in bars. He brought you to a place called Grillby’s, which is on the side of town known for hosting most of the monsters that arrived on the surface a few years ago. At first you were impressed, since feelings towards monsters have been improving but some people are still prejudiced, but that was quickly overshadowed by...well, the rest of him being off-putting.

You've never actually been here, but with how flavorful the burger you ordered is, you definitely wouldn't mind coming back. Just without him.

“So, sweetie.” Your date tries to talk smoothly, and just ends up talking like a sleaze. “What do you think about going back to my place tonight?”

You nearly choke on the food you were in the middle of swallowing. Who the hell asks that on a first date?!

“I uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” you say, grabbing for your drink, “thank you for the offer though.”

The guy laughs, brushing away a bit of his dark hair from his face. His blue eyes lock with yours.

“Oh, it wasn’t an offer…” he says with a smile, “I’m taking you home tonight. You’re going to love it.”

_ DANGER! DANGER! _

You chuckle nervously and push yourself back from the table, your appetite gone. Too bad, the food is by far the best part of this date. “Excuse me. I’m going to grab another drink from the bar.”

He doesn’t seem to mind, and doesn’t say anything, surprisingly. But you can feel his eyes following you as you make your way to the bar where a monster made of literal fire is standing and wiping down the wood countertop. He’s wearing a white dress shirt with a black vest and bowtie. You can see his golden eyes behind his thin-framed glasses.

“Excuse me, sir,” you say, trying to hide the quiver of fear in your voice, “do you happen to serve angel shots?”

Angel shots were a thing you had only heard about in one other bar, and saw on talked about on social media . It was a code word for feeling unsafe on a date, and needing help. Usually you could order it a certain way so the bartender would know how severe the situation was. But not all bars had it, and by the confused look on the bartender’s face, you could guess this one didn’t. You brace yourself to try and explain your situation to a total stranger.

The bartender’s face seems to scrunch slightly, the flames atop his head flickering a little more quickly than they were, “I’m sorry, I-”

“Grillby, hold on.” 

You both look to the side where you see a woman sitting next to a skeleton monster. She stands up and steps closer to you.

“What kind of angel shot?” she asks, her voice low. “Smooth, like a brisk walk, or something a little stronger?”

To your relief, you instantly pick up on her signals. “Smooth is fine.”

“Who's giving you trouble?” she whispers, her brown eyes studying yours intensely.

You sneak a glance over to where your date is sitting. Thankfully he doesn't seem to be paying attention. Actually, he’s leering at another woman eating dinner with someone at a table nearby. What a pig! The girl follows your gaze then looks behind her. A skeleton monster stands there, his hand on her waist.

“the one in the red shirt by the window?” he mutters, “i’ve had my eye socket on him all night. let me take care of him.”

“Sans,” the girl looks to him, a warning in her gaze, but a smile on her lips. “Don't do anything stupid, now. You don't want to cause yet another mess for Grillby to clean up.”

You look to where the bartender stands. He merely sighs and shakes his head at the two.

“Can you distract him while I walk her out, babe?” she asks Sans.

“be glad to,” he says, planting a kiss to her cheek before walking off.

She turns to Grillby. “Is it okay if I take her through the back?”

Grillby simply nods and the girl immediately takes your hand, leading you behind the bar and through a door to the kitchens.

“Thank you,” you say quietly.

“Of course! I'm just glad I overheard you. I've been thinking of mentioning the idea of an angel shot to Grillby before, so I guess tonight would be a good time to do that.”

She takes you out the back door and into an alleyway that takes the two of you around to the parking lot.

“Where's your car at?” 

“Over here,” you say, leading her down a line of cars until you reach yours. It's only when you've unlocked the doors that she lets go of your hand.

“Does that creep know where you live?” she asks, her eyes full of concern.

“He shouldn't. I haven't told him, and we drove separate. First date and all.” 

“Good, good.” She breathes a sigh of relief. “If it isn't too much to ask, can I give you my number? I want to make sure you get home alright.”

You're a bit surprised by her concern, but pull your phone from your pocket and hand it to her. She takes it with a friendly smile.

“Sorry, I know it's probably weird, but I've been in a similar position and it's good to have someone you can reach out to.” She puts her number in and hands it back to you, giving you a warm smile. “I'm in there as Alex S. Don't hesitate to shoot me a message, alright?”

“I… thank you,” you say. “I really appreciate it.”

“It's no problem! I better get back before Sans does something to tarnish the bar's reputation.” She rolls her eyes and starts to turn away, but says, “Hopefully I'll see ya around, Angel!”

You start to tell her that isn't your name, but the words die in your mouth as she runs off, her auburn-brown hair bouncing behind her. Not wanting to stand out in the open for too long, you go ahead and get into your car.

As you head home, you think about Alex and Sans. You swear you’ve seen them somewhere before, especially her. She’s clearly friendly with the monsters, but you just can’t seem to put your finger on where you know her from.

You pull up to your apartment complex not long after. The dim street lights barely illuminate the front of the old building. It’s probably not the safest area to live in, but the rent is fairly cheap, and that’s definitely what you’re in need of at the moment after being fired.

You let out an aggravated sigh and trudge your way up the steps to the second floor, down to the far right of the building where your apartment is. You fiddle with the lock until your key finally turns it and you push the door open. 

The small, one bedroom apartment has been your home for almost 2 years now. It isn’t much, but it’s certainly nicer living here on your own than still being in your childhood home with your mother. 

The front door opens into a small walk-in area where there’s a small coat closet. Past that, you walk through your dining room, with a small table and two chairs, and into your living room. You own a small sofa and two large bean bag chairs, along with an old tube tv sitting on top of small wooden stand. Separated by a single wall from the living area is the kitchen, with all the appliances needed to keep yourself fed, and full of coffee.

You frown as you look over your space. While it’s somewhere you love and feel comfortable, you’ve never really wanted to invite anyone over… not that you really have anyone to invite in the first place. Probably the best thing about this place right now is that you’re here and not at that creep’s place.

Tossing your purse onto the couch, you make your way past the kitchen and bathroom to your bedroom in the back. Immediately stripping off the clothes from your date, you put them in a hamper before grabbing a set of pajamas from your dresser to wear. As much as you want to crawl into bed and forget about the shitty day it’s been, you need to figure out where you know that Alex girl from first.

Grabbing your laptop from the nightstand, you sit on the bed and open it up. Like usual, you hadn’t shut it down last time you used it, so it simply pops up to your home screen. Bringing up the search engine, you decide to type in ‘Alex S’ and go from there.

You bite your lip as you look at the results. Reading, as well as writing of any kind, has always been difficult for you. You were diagnosed with Dyslexia at a young age, and even though your mom attempted to get you help for it, you were constantly made fun of for it at school. Eventually, you’d only do the minimum reading required to pass your classes, and your handwriting was just so terrible you ended up having to basically read a lot of your work to your teachers or typing it instead.

But here in your room, there’s no one to laugh at you. You sit and scan the first page of search results carefully, finding a lot of people under that name, but none that really ring a bell. You go back up to the search bar and type in ‘monsters’ at the end, and the first link leads to a headline you remember seeing around a year ago.

**Girl kidnapped by hate group finally speaks out.**

You click the link and see an article about a girl who got kidnapped by a well-known hate group of humans bent on destroying monsters. You remember that she was one of the few survivors in a large fire that burned down an old abandoned factory outside of town. Apparently her skeleton monster boyfriend, Sans, helped rescue her and some others held there.

You knew you’d heard of her! Supposedly she was pretty special to the monster community, and that was the main reason the group wanted to kidnap her. You’d also heard rumors that she got into a situation that resulted with her getting some sort of magic of her own. You aren’t sure about the facts on that, though; sometimes rumors got out of control.

It suddenly dawns on you that you meant to shoot her a text once you got home. You aren’t used to people checking up on you like this, in your defense. You pick your phone up off the nightstand and bring up her contact, typing out a simple “I’m home, thank you for tonight!” message. Barely a minute passes before you get a response.

**Alex S:** No problem! I’m glad to see you got home safe, thank you for texting me!

You smile and set your phone back down. Maybe you’ll talk to her again soon, she seems friendly enough. Looking back to your laptop, you sigh, remembering the other problem that arose today… losing your job.

You nearly slam your laptop closed. There’s no way you’re scouring the web for new jobs tonight. That’ll have to wait until morning. You put away your laptop and turn on your lamp before going to turn the light off in your room. Flopping onto your bed, you curl up under the covers and cut out your lamp.

That night, you dream of being drunk at home, watching nothing but nature documentaries about snakes on the TV.

  
  



	2. Tequila Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tequila Sunrise Directions:  
> 1\. Fill a highball glass with 1 1/2 cups ice and set aside.  
> 2\. Combine tequila and orange juice in a cocktail mixing glass. Add 1 cup ice, stir, and strain into the prepared highball glass. Slowly pour in grenadine and let settle.  
> 3\. Stir before drinking.
> 
> \-------
> 
> So the theme for this story is drinks and bartending, so its most likely that each chapter title will be the name of a cocktail or something like that. I thought it'd be cute to put an ingredient list or directions for each one in the chapter notes, so here we are!
> 
> No set schedule for updates yet, but here's the second chapter for you! Please leave a comment below, it brightens my day!  
> Enjoy!
> 
> -Paige

You wake up early to put in some online job applications before actually making yourself look decent enough to go out in public to ask about opportunities in person. Finding work with someone who is willing to work with your disability has always been tough. Most jobs, if not all, require you to read and/or write, and do it  _ well. _

Right off the bat you'd been turned away at three different places. Two claimed not to be hiring at all, and the manager at the third wouldn't even bother looking at you for long enough for you to ask about a job. 

After trying some other stores, only one of which handed you an application to fill out, you decide to stop by a coffee shop you've only visited once before. You walk in and are immediately greeted by a very tall skeleton monster.

“WELCOME IN! HOW ARE YOU TODAY?”

His loud voice startles you at first, but his enthusiasm puts a smile on your face as you approach the counter. “Hi, um, you wouldn’t happen to be hiring, are you?”

The skeleton frowns at you. “AT THE MOMENT, NO, BUT WE WILL BE HIRING FOR SEASONAL POSITIONS IN A FEW MONTHS!”

You can't wait for a few months, unfortunately, and noticing the disappointment on your face, the monster tries to give you a reassuring look.

“IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A JOB, I DO HAVE A FRIEND WHO I BELIEVE IS IN NEED OF AN EXTRA SET OF HANDS AT HIS RESTAURANT.”

Your eyes light up. “Oh? Where at?”

“IT'S A PLACE DOWNTOWN CALLED GRILLBY’S.” 

You pause. Grillby's? The bar you had that horrible date at last night?

He sees your hesitation and asks, “HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?”

“Yeah, just once,” you say, “I might stop by there, though.”

He smiles again. It’s adorable how easy it is to brighten him back up again. “GRILLBY IS A GOOD GUY! HE RECENTLY HAD HIS ONLY OTHER WORKER QUIT, SO I’M SURE HE’D BE THANKFUL FOR THE HELP!”

The thought of working at the place where you met with that creep weirds you out a bit, but you find yourself thinking back on Alex and Sans. If they frequent there, it probably isn’t a bad place, right? And it’s good to make better memories rather than let that one weirdo ruin it forever.

“I’ll go by there after here,” you decide aloud, looking for his nametag, “thank you, uhh-”

“PAPYRUS!” he says proudly, complete with a heroic pose.

You chuckle. “Thank you Papyrus! Can I get a coffee to go as well?”

 

* * *

 

 

Your hope feels renewed as you sip your coffee and drive downtown to Grillby’s. The time you spent talking to Papyrus really boosted your mood and you feel confident in your ability to land a job offer today…

Until you actually step foot into the restaurant.

Your nerves are beginning to get the best of you as you make your way to the bar, where you can already see the familiar flames of the bartender and the white of Sans’ skull sitting nearby.

Grillby catches your eye and you put on a smile as you approach him, “Hey, Gr-”

“if it isn’t angel.” You turn to where Sans is sitting, waving lazily at you. “didn’t expect to see you back here so soon.”

“O-oh, my name isn’t-”

“ANGEL!” You see Alex bound toward you from the other side of the room. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the flame elemental spark as he laughs, shaking his head at the way they cut you off. “It’s good seeing you again, how are you?”

“I’m alright,” you say, looking between the two of them. “Are you two always here?”

“i mean, yeah.”

“Mostly.” Alex’s grin is infectiously bright.

You blink a few times before turning back to Grillby, who is silently waiting to hear you out.

“I’m sorry, I was just wondering if you were hiring,” you tell him.

The peanut gallery stays quiet for once and lets him think and answer. After he considers you for a moment, he nods. You can’t help but smile immediately, that hopeful feeling spreading through you once more.

“Great! Do I need to fill out an application or…”

“the place is pretty empty right now, why don't you just go ahead and interview her, grillbz?” Sans pipes up.

Grillby’s golden eyes narrow at him from behind his glasses, but Sans simply smiles back. At this point the sarcastic side of your brain is wondering if Sans or Alex will be doing the interview and not the actual owner.

Alex leans against Sans, grinning over at Grillby almost as widely as her boyfriend. “Don't worry, hot stuff, we got this covered!”

You very seriously doubt that by Grillby’s reaction. There's a few crackles from the flames atop his head and just a bit of smoke rises from them.

“c'mon, buddy, you know you could use the help,” Sans says with a wink.

Grillby rolls his eyes and turns back to you, “Would you be interested in an interview?” 

“Right now?!” you sputter. You’re glad you wore more professional clothes on your journey around town now. “Uh, I, sure! Of course!”

He motions for you to come around the bar where he meets you at the end of it, the opposite end from the other two. He starts toward the door leading to the back room when you see Alex hop the bar and grab for a glass. Grillby stops and you squeak in surprise when the flames on his head burn higher as he glares at her.

She giggles. “I’m just manning the bar for you, Grillby! Don’t fret so much!”

Grillby’s flames return to normal and he lets out a defeated sigh as he opens the door, leading you into the back.

You just walked through here last night, but you’d been in such a frightened rush that you really didn’t get a good look at the place. You follow Grillby through a short hallway and into the kitchen. It looks pretty typical to a bar’s kitchen, if a little smaller, but if he’s the only cook that wouldn’t matter. There’s a small table and two chairs pushed against the wall and he motions for you to sit in one as he takes the other.

“I didn’t mean for you to stop work to interview me,” you tell him, your voice earnest.

He holds up one of his hands. “It’s alright. I don’t mind…and they wouldn’t have shut up if I had you come back at another time to interview, anyway.” His voice is quiet, comforting, and his smile reassuring as he asks, “Have you worked in a restaurant before?”

“Um, only for a short period of time,” you answer honestly, “I washed dishes, cleaned tables, and did a bit of waitressing. Mostly front of the house stuff.”

He nods, folding his hands and resting them on the table. You take just a couple of seconds to glance at them as the bright flames catch your attention, but his next question calls you back.

“Why do you want to work here?”

It’s a common question, one you’ve heard at every job interview you’ve ever had. The truth is that you need money, but that’s a shit answer and everyone knows it, even if it’s the truth.

“Well, I already feel like I enjoy the atmosphere of the place, and I like to serve others.” 

“What’s your availability?” he asks.

You fidget with your shirt in your lap. His gaze is pretty intense, especially in a small space like this. “I don’t really have a time when I’m  _ not _ available, honestly.”

He doesn’t speak for a moment and seems to be thinking on the bit of information you’ve told him so far. 

“That’s good,” he says. “Is there anything that you have questions about, or want to comment on?”

Your stomach turns. This is the question you always dread getting asked. As much as you’d like to ignore your disability and say there’s no issue, you know it’d be bad for you to lie about it. It always comes up later on, anyway.

“Th-there’s one thing,” you tell him, not meeting his gaze any longer. “I have dyslexia and it causes me to not be able to read or write very well.”

You’d also like to warn him that you’re rather clumsy, but you don’t think that would be a good thing to admit during an interview.

“Is there a way to make reading easier for you?” 

Your eyes snap to him in surprise. No interviewer has ever asked you that before, ever. They usually just ask how bad it is and wonder if it’s going to hinder your performance enough for it even to be worth hiring you. Or they keep asking more and more personal questions, or tell you all about their third cousin on their dad’s side who has it, too. As if every person with dyslexia has the same experience with it.

“I, uh, I just have to read very slowly and carefully,” you tell him. “It should be fine, especially if I memorize the menu.”

You swear you see a small smile appear on his face. “If you need any help, please don’t be afraid to ask.”

You’re nearly speechless, and don’t want to get your hopes up, but you ask, “D-does that mean…?”

“When can you start?” he asks, that smile growing wider.

“I can start any time!” you say excitedly, sitting up straight in your seat. “Thank you so much, sir!”

A soft noise escapes him. A chuckle? There’s a few of those sparks from before, when you thought you heard him laugh at Alex and Sans. “Grillby is fine.”

“O-of course, si- I mean, Grillby!” you say, moving to stand as he does.

You pause as you watch him walk to a nearby closet, open it, and pull out a black apron. It’s very similar to his own. He walks back, handing it out to you.

“Here you are. I only ask that you dress professionally. Black pants or skirts, and tops that are solid in color.”

You hold the apron close in utter excitement, “I will. Thank you again!”

He nods and gestures for you to go ahead of him back to the bar. You do so, walking out into the restaurant just in time to see Alex putting the finishing touches on a drink she's making… by literally shooting fire at it from her hands.

You stop, staring wide eyed at her. She looks over at you and her smile falters, and so do the literal  _ flames shooting out of her hands _ .

“Oh hey, Angel… aaand you must not know that I have magic.”

“I had heard rumors,” you tell her honestly, recalling your research from last night. Was that really only last night? “But, I mean, I know for sure now and… wow, that looks cool.”

Alex lets out a laugh. “If you think that's cool, then Grillby must get you really  _ fired _ up!”

You try to suppress a laugh, not from the pun, but from Grillby facepalming himself while Sans looks to his girlfriend like he's never been more proud.

“You can do much better than that, Alex. And if you do that behind my bar again I will  _ hold your feet to the fire. _ ” Grillby shoos Alex away from his bar as he returns to his station. She's still giggling as she makes her way back to Sans’ side,  beverage in hand.

“i guess everything went well,” Sans says, gesturing to the apron in your hand. “when do you start?”

“Oh!” You look at Grillby. “We never actually settled on a time!”

He thinks for a moment, “Tomorrow morning? Seven? I usually don’t open until eight, so I could walk you through everything.”

One of the first real smiles you’ve had all day lights up your face. You really got the job! “Alright, I'll be here!”

Alex leans against Sans and looks right at you. “I’m glad Grillby hired you, he’s been needing some help. The bar is just gonna get busier from here on out. I know it!”

Sans elbows her gently, giving her a wink. “and now we got a new person to try my pranks on.”

There’s a sharp pop in the air and you look over to see Grillby narrowing his eyes at Sans, his flames a little taller than before.

“aw come on, grillbz. it’s all in good fun!”

Grillby makes a motion of rolling his eyes before walking to tend to a customer who just walked in. Sans chuckles to himself as he turns back to you.

“eh, i’m just messing with ya, kid” He looks off to the side and says, “mostly.”

You furrow your brows and Alex laughs at the exchange. “Anyway, we’re both glad you’re here! I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

Looking at the both of them, you smile. Already you feel happier than you have in weeks. She might actually be right, and you really hope she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everything is sounding okay so far! I want this story to be a little more fun, like Spitfire was! ...its just that right now my brain only seems to want to write smut so it looks like I'm skipping ahead and writing a smut scene today that won't be posted for many more chapters XD
> 
> OH! And also, I want to note that, while I don't have firsthand experience with Dyslexia, I do know that there are varying degrees and severities of it, and I am doing research as I write! If anyone has any advice on it, or if I explain something wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me!! <3


	3. Painkiller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ingredients:  
> 2 oz Navy or Dark Rum  
> 4 oz Pineapple Juice  
> 1 oz Cream of Coconut  
> 1 oz Orange Juice  
> Nutmeg for garnish  
> \-----
> 
> Oh heyyyy, here's another chapter!! :D I hope y'all are liking the story so far! Also, give it up for my wonderful friend and co-writer, Em, she is amazing! <3
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Paige

You wake up before your alarm, take it as a sign, and go ahead and get ready for your first day of work. 

After a quick shower, you put on a pair of black slacks and a plain white polo shirt. It fits the description of what Grillby wanted you to wear better than any of your other clothes. You’re still relieved you didn’t have to go out and buy clothes on your tight budget. 

Slipping the apron over your head, you situate it on your front before tying the back. After you fix your hair, you look in your large bedroom mirror, turning slightly side to side to see if everything looks alright.

“Lookin’ fairly decent,” you say to yourself, rather proud of having gotten out of bed and ready so early.

Making sure everything is in order, you leave your apartment and head to your car, anxiety and excitement raging a war inside of you.

_ How badly will you mess up on your first day?  You’ll embarrass yourself like you always do… _

You do your best to ignore those thoughts as you drive to Grillby’s. He’s going to show you how to do everything, it’s no problem, everyone makes mistakes at a new job!

Before you even realize it, you’re pulling into the restaurant lot and parking your car. You take a few deep breaths before getting out and walking to the front doors. You’re about to knock when you see Grillby through the front window and hear him fiddling with the lock.

“Good morning!” you say as he opens the door, holding it as you walk inside.

“Morning,” he says, his voice gruff, like he has a sore throat or something.

“How are you?” you ask, waiting for him to lock the door back and turn to you.

“Good,” he says, his eyes meeting yours, “and you?”

You smile and say, “I’m doing well! Thank you for asking!”

A small smile crosses his face and he motions for you to follow him. You do, stopping once you both reach the bar.

“First, forgive me if I don’t talk much, I don’t really like to first thing in the morning,” he tells you. “Second, I’m going to have you working out here in the front of the house most of the day, waiting on the customers while I cook and tend the bar.”

You nod. “Yes sir!”

You bite the inside of your mouth, remembering the night before when he said you could use his name instead of sir. It’s hard to just bypass those ingrained manners, at least for now. He doesn’t seem to mind much as he starts walking to the back. You follow behind him automatically.

“When the dishes get piled up, it will be your job to wash them, for obvious reasons.” He looks to you, raising up one of his hands as if you needed to be reminded that he’s made of fire. “It shouldn’t be too bad. I have a lot of breaks between customers where I can usually get the little things done. If it starts getting too much, I may have to look into hiring another person. Until then, it’s just us running the place.”

Worry consumes your mind knowing that you’re responsible for so much of the place. You don’t want to let your new boss down though. He lets out a small cough and rubs at his throat. He said he doesn’t talk much, and he’s already said so much. You feel for him.

“I got it, Grillby!” you say, smiling wide when you use his name this time. “You can count on me!”

His flames brighten a bit. “I believe you. As long as you do your best, you’ll be fine.”

He walks over to one of the kitchen counters and pulls open a drawer, picking a notepad and a pen out, bringing them back over to you. 

“Here’s where you will write down orders. There are more pads and pens in that drawer if you need them.”

You look over the notepad, fear rearing its ugly head inside your brain. What if you can’t write the orders to where he can read them?

“Any questions?”

“No, no I’m fine,” you say, focusing back on him instead of the butterflies of worry in your stomach, “I’ll just go ahead and put these away…”

You put the pen and pad in a pocket on your apron and then follow Grillby around as he helps you get familiarized with the restaurant. It seems pretty straightforward, and by the time he’s shown you everything, you’re feeling more confident in your ability to do this job well.

“We open in ten. The morning crowd usually isn’t bad, it picks up around lunch, but slows down before we get the evening rush,” Grillby tells you as the two of you stand by the bar again. “Are you wanting to work a full day today? I know it may take some time getting used to.”

“I’ll try for a full day!” you tell him.

“Sure?”

You nod. “Yeah. You need the help right? That’s what I’m here for!”

The way he looks at you, his golden eyes staring intensely as if he’s studying you, it sends a shiver up your spine. But it doesn’t last long. A smile appears on his face once more.

“Alright. But if you start getting tired, just let me know.”

You smile and give him a cheery, “Yessir!”

 

* * *

 

For your first day on the job, you didn’t do too bad at all! You thank whatever possible outside force helped you curb your clumsiness since you managed not to break anything. Understandably, you had some hang ups, notably having to take down orders. Grillby only had to ask a couple of times what something you wrote meant, after that everything ran smoothly. Well, except for a couple of customers getting a little aggravated by how long it took you to take their order, but that’s bound to happen in any food service setting.

It’s near closing time when you see a familiar skeleton appear at the bar. You’re tired from the day, but proud of yourself, and Sans seems to notice as you approach him.

“looks like you’re starting to get  _ burned out _ , kid,” he says with a smirk, “first day going well?”

You ignore the fire pun, smiling a bit when you see Grillby shake his head and walk off from the counter. “It’s been good! Busy, but good.”

“glad to hear it, angel.”

Your brows furrow. “You know that’s not my na-”

“hey grillbz! give our girl a break so i can chat with her!” Sans turns from you to call out.

You purse your lips in slight aggravation, did he just call you ‘their girl’? And he totally cut you off before you could remind him that’s not your name. Who  _ is _ this guy?

Grillby looks down at his watch and nods to the two of you. Sans looks at you with a smile. “he says you can stop for the night.”

Your jaw drops open and you look between him and Grillby. “How… How did you know he said that? He just nodded!”

Sans shrugs. “eh, you spend as much time with him as i have and you just learn to read him.” 

He pats the stool next to him and you hesitate before sitting down. You have no idea why he would want to talk to you, but you don’t deny the fact that you’re very thankful to rest your legs now.

“so no issues today?” Sans asks, his voice quieter now, “no shitty customers?”

“Not really.” You cock an eyebrow in confusion. “Are there usually?”

“there are some days. just wanna make sure nobody has bothered you or grillbz.”

Grillby brings two drinks over, sitting one of them in front of you. You take it and peer inside the glass at the green-colored liquid.

“What is it?” you ask.

“Try it.” Grillby says with a smirk before walking off again.

You look to Sans, who is sipping on his own drink, before staring back into yours. You sniff. It doesn’t smell like alcohol. Of course, that doesn’t really mean anything, but you trust your new boss to not give you something that would be dangerous to your health.

You bite the bullet and take a sip. Immediately, your mouth is filled with the taste of lemon-lime and a tingling sensation follows the liquid all the way down your throat.

“Woah,” you say, looking at the drink again. “This tastes really good.”

“give it a few seconds,” Sans says, watching you as he drinks.

“For what?”

“you’ll see.”

You frown. “Why do you and Grillby not answer questions direct- oh!”

You’re surprised when you suddenly feel no tiredness in your limbs. You actually feel better than when you first came into work.

“how do you feel?” Sans asks. From his smirk you can tell he already knows the answer.

“Like I could run a mile, geeze.” You’re in disbelief as you look over your hands to see that a couple of scratches you got today are completely gone now. “What the hell is in this stuff?”

“mmmagic,” Sans says, wiggling his phalanges at you.

You narrow your eyes at him. “Is that a joke?”

He chuckles. “nah, it’s actual magic. everything grillby cooks has a bit of monster magic in it. monster food doesn’t spoil, and it has a lot of different healing properties.”

“That’s insane!” you exclaim, taking another swallow of the drink. “It’s okay for humans to consume this though, right? Like, I’m not gonna have any horrible side effects?”

“you got a weak stomach?”

Your eyes go wide. “Kinda.”

He takes a sharp breath in through his teeth, gives you a sympathetic look, and suddenly hops of the stool, walking toward the front doors.

“Sans…. SANS?! Oh my god.” 

You place your forehead on the bar and groan. He was joking, right? Yeah, he probably was… maybe.

Hearing warm laughter and soft crackling, you look up to see Grillby on the other side of the bar. You frown at him. Did he overhear what happened?

“You’ll be fine,” he says, taking the now-empty glass that Sans had been drinking from.

Relief falls over you and you sit up straight again. “Thanks… so it’s fine if I down the rest?”

Grillby nods, still chuckling softly. You pick up your glass and drain it before setting the glass back on the bar.

“I’ll just go fill up the dishwasher before we close,” you say, sliding off of your stool, but a crackle from his flames stops you.

“I’ve got it,” he says.

“What? No, I can do it, Grillby. It’s my job after all.”

“It’s fine, I can do it tonight,” he says. “Go home and rest up.”

“Are you sure?” you ask, “I can-”

He holds up a hand and shakes his head, and you take the hint. A sudden worry falls over you… what if this was his nice way of telling you that he doesn’t need you anymore? 

He must be able to read your face, because he gently laughs again and says, “You’re doing just fine here.”

The worry starts to fade. “Thank you, sir.”

“Can you come in at six in the morning tomorrow to help with a shipment?” 

“Yes, of course!”

“Good. I will see you then, Miss Angel,” he says with a smile.

You narrow your eyes at him. For some reason when Sans was doing it, you got irritated immediately, but when he said it you feel like you’re in on the joke. “You  _ know  _ that’s not my name.”

Grillby says nothing, simply crackles with laughter while grabbing your dirty glass and walking toward the back. You stand stunned. You made sure he knew your real name this morning, yet he seems to insist on following in Sans and Alex’s footsteps.

You’d be more mad, but there’s this little bubble of fondness inside you that actually enjoys having a nickname here. Even if it was because of a crappy date.

 

* * *

 

You get home and start setting your clothes out to put on in the morning. This morning was a fluke and you know it, you don’t know if you can be that prepared every day without planning. As you’re reaching for a shirt in your closet, you hit something jutting out from the cluttered, top shelf. You squeal and jump back as an avalanche of keepsakes and junk that you should’ve gotten rid of years ago tumbles out.

You sigh and kneel down to clean up the mess, moving old papers back into their folders and trinkets back into their boxes. That drink is coming in handy; you would have been too sore to care about cleaning it up after a full workday without it. 

You stop when you notice a small, white box. When it toppled it opened slightly and for a few of its contents spilled out.

There’s a voice begging you to quickly sweep it up and toss it back into the closet, but you don’t. Your hand reaches out slowly, fingers shaking as you grab a corner of one of the photos that fell out. It’s a photo full of happy memories… of joyful days where the snow never seemed to end, and you’d be cuddled up in front of the fireplace, safe and comfortable.

A breaking feeling in your heart forces you to shove the photo back into the box, along with the other pieces of your past. You place the box back on the shelf and finish cleaning, not letting yourself think at all.

That night you dream of trying to cross a neverending broken bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment below to put a smile on my faceeee!!! :D


	4. White Russian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White Russian Ingredients:  
> 2/3 oz (2 parts) Coffee liqueur,  
> 1 2/3 oz (5 parts) Vodka,  
> 1 oz (3 parts) Fresh cream  
> \----------
> 
> I started yet ANOTHER fic! This time, a Gaster/Reader/Grillby fic:  
> [Three to Tango](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13848765/chapters/31852962)
> 
> Bear with me as I get out of this massive depression funk I've been in for the past few weeks. I hope to climb out of it soon <3 until then, I'm not sure how often I'll be updating.
> 
> Enjoy! and Please leave a comment below!  
> -Paige

Grillby stands in his kitchen, stretching the stiffness from his body as he waits on the coffee maker to finish filling his mug. His thoughts go straight to work reminding him of all the shit he needs to get done today. So much. Too much, actually.

He crosses over to his fridge, opening it up to look at the lower shelf where he has a row of different liquors. He immediately grabs for the scotch and shuts the fridge with his foot then walking back to the coffee maker. Grabbing the now-filled mug, he opens the scotch and pours some in, not bothering to really measure how much. He puts the scotch away and grabs a spoon to stir the coffee.

It won't be long before the shipment will arrive at the bar, so he should really hurry up and get over there. He takes a moment to breathe and sip his coffee though. Just a few more peaceful, silent moments before the day begins. His mind wanders as the slow relief soaks into him from his drink.

Yesterday was your first day on the job, and you did pretty well. There were a couple of issues, but nothing that hindered your work performance, really. He noticed you seem to have trouble writing things down, but after asking about some things, he started making sense of your methods. It’s intriguing; he’s never seen a human have issues with writing.

He also figured out that you may be a tad clumsy. You bumped into the bar he doesn’t know how many times, and you ended up scraping your hand on something when you nearly tripped over nothing. He could also chalk it up to your nerves on the first day of a new job. Assumptions aren’t something he likes to do. So many humans assumed monsters were trouble as soon as they reached the Surface, he tries not to do the same.

Downing most of the coffee, he walks back to his bedroom to change out of his pajamas for his regular bartending attire. It doesn’t take him long until he’s completely ready for work and heading out to the bar, which is only a short walk away from his house.

He gets to the restaurant to see you already standing outside the front door.

“You’re here early,” he says, knowing that it’s barely half past five.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I hope that’s okay,” you say as he unlocks the door, “I didn’t sleep well last night, so I just had an earlier start this morning.”

“It’s fine.” He opens the door for you to enter before following behind and locking it back.

“Does the shipment get in right at six?” You ask as you turn to face him again.

He catches your face in the soft light and notices your eyes are bloodshot and there are terribly dark circles underneath them. He honestly wonders if you slept at all. Is that why you were here so early?

“Yeah… Did you want coffee?”

A soft smile appears on your lips. “If it isn’t too much trouble. I had a cup at home, but I feel like I might need more than that today.”

“It’s no problem. You can have as much coffee as you like while working here,” he says, starting toward the back room.

You thank him and follow him back, where he immediately starts making a pot of coffee, knowing that he’ll probably need more himself later. It grows quiet, and you’ve sat down at the small dining table he interviewed you at. As the machine starts up he turns around and leans back against the counter, looking over at you. You have your phone out, just staring at it for a moment,  then setting it on the table.

“So, um,” you start, looking over at him, “what kind of shipment is coming in? And how big?”

Ah, there’s the small talk he expected. Since moving to the surface, Grillby has noticed it’s difficult for many humans to just sit in silence.

“Mostly just food items,” he says. “It shouldn’t be too much. There’ll be some meats and other items that will need to go in the fridge and freezers, along with produce, and a few nonfood items.”

He clears his throat. It’s mildly irritating for him to talk this long, both physically and mentally. Human speech isn’t what he was built for. But this is what he has to do up here on the surface. Any humans who may have understood firespeak are long gone.

“Oh, okay.” You press the home button on your phone and look at it.

“Any other questions?”

“Um… not that I can think of, besides asking how you are?”

He watches as you look back to him from your phone. “I am well. Thank you for asking.”

You smile tiredly. “That’s good!”

The silence falls over the two of you again, and Grillby turns back to the machine to pour coffee for you both.

“Want anything in yours?” he asks you.

“Just a bit of creamer if you have any, please!”

He grabs a bottle of creamer from the fridge and puts a splash in yours, he then grabs out whatever bottle of liquor his hand touches first and pours a bit into his cup. After stirring them both, he takes the mugs and walks back over to the table. You’re staring down at your phone again, but as he gets closer he realizes you’re just looking at your home screen blankly. You really must be exhausted, or you’re waiting for something.

“Here you are,” he says, setting the mug in front of you.

“Thank you, Grillby. I really appreciate it.”

Grillby pulls his own phone out of his pocket, checking the time. The delivery truck will be there soon, but he can take a few minutes to relax. He quickly checks his notifications and repockets his phone.

As you both sit there, he can’t help but notice you continuing to check your phone. You must be waiting on an important message or something. He’d ask, but that seems a little too personal. It isn’t too long until the shipment arrives and the two of you work on bringing the boxes inside until they’re all stacked orderly in the back room.

“We should probably start with the cold stuff, yeah?” you ask, setting down the last box.

“That would be best.” He grabs a box cutter and hands it to you.

You both work to get all the perishable items into storage, quickly, yet efficiently. Grillby makes a mental note of how fast you seem to be at this part of the job. It’s good to know, though he’s surprised that you haven’t-

_Oh, nope, there it is._

You let out a squeak of surprise when you accidently hit your foot on one of the boxes and start to fall. Expecting it to happen all morning, he’s ready. Grillby quickly reaches out to grab your arm before you topple over.

“Sorry.” You laugh nervously as you stand up straight again., “I guess I should pay more attention to where I’m going. Thank you.”

Grillby can’t help but chuckle a little. “It’s fine.”

Your smile relaxes as he pulls his hand back, keeping an eye on you to make sure you get around the box this time. He finishes up on the box he’s working on and walks back out to the main part of the kitchen to see you pouring yourself another cup of coffee.

“Am I going to need to make another pot soon?” he jokes, grabbing his own mug to fill.

You let out a small laugh. “It’s a possibility!”

Grillby watches as you finish pouring and pass him the coffee pot. He thanks you and fills his own, deciding to bypass adding the alcohol this time. The soft hum in his soul is enough for now, and it will be time to work with customers soon enough, anyway. Setting the pot back, he takes a swig, feeling your eyes on him as the two of you lean against the counter.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” you ask, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Not at all.”

“If you’re made of fire… how are you drinking liquids?”

This definitely isn’t the first time he’s been asked that question, but the look on your face as you ask it causes laughter to bubble out of him.

“What! It’s a logical question!” you defend yourself.

Your face turns pouty and your cheeks start to redden in embarrassment, which just makes him laugh even more.

“I’m sorry,” he says as he starts to calm down, “I shouldn’t have laughed like that.”

You place a hand on your hip and look him squarely in the eyes. “I accept your apology, but are you actually going to answer my question?”

Grillby raises a brow at your sudden feistiness. Are you finally starting to wake up from the coffee?

“Well, first off, the beans I use are magic, so I just absorb it,” he says, pointing to some of the bags of coffee beans on a shelf above him, “but if I ever use non-magical coffee, I simply use my own magic to make it digestible.”

“Woah,” you breathe, looking at the coffee in your mug. “That’s really cool!... So how does magic affect me?”

“It depends on the type of magic, but your standard magic foods have the power to heal minor ailments and boost energy and mood levels.”

He tips his mug to his lips and continues to watch the amazement on your face as you look at your coffee again before taking another sip. This part never really gets old. Watching a human’s positive reaction to magic makes a lot of the other shit worth it.

“Well, it tastes wonderful!” you tell him, “everything I've tried here so far does!”

Grillby can feel his face growing even hotter from the obvious compliment. “Thank you.”

There's a stretch of comfortable silence then, the two of you taking time to drink coffee and relax a bit before hopping back into work.

 

* * *

 

You sit in the back on your lunch break, eating some fries that Grillby cooked up for you, which taste absolutely amazing. You had told him you brought something to eat, but once he saw that it was a yogurt cup instead of a decent meal, he insisted that he make you some ‘actual food’. Thinking about the look on his face when he saw the yogurt makes you laugh to yourself. He’d seemed so offended that you would call that your lunch. Not that you could think of saying no to more magical food.

A vibration on the table pulls your gaze to your phone, where you see a notification for a new message pop up. You furrow your brows, curious to see who would be texting you, but when you open your phone, you find yourself smirking when you see it’s from Alex.

 **Alex S.** **  
** Heya, Angel! I hope work is going well! I just wanted to let you know that I’m having some friends over for some movies tomorrow night, and I’d love it if you joined us!

 

Her address is listed below it, and your stomach feels just the tiniest bit queasy all of a sudden. You’re a little anxious about meeting new people, though you know it’d be good for you. You take a few minutes to stare at the message, contemplating your reply. Do you just tell her you’ll think on it? That’s probably the best option, since you won’t feel so bad if you-

“Is everything alright?”

You jump slightly at Grillby’s voice, looking over to where he’s standing near the stove. You hadn’t even heard him come back here.

“Oh, I just… got an invite to a thing,” you tell him.

“Mind if I ask what is it?”

You’re a tad surprised that he’s interested in it, but tell him nonetheless. “Alex invited me to her house, said that she’s having some friends over tomorrow night.”

“Probably Undyne and Alphys,” Grillby says, focusing on the food he’s cooking. “Have you met them?”

“No, I don’t think so,” You tell him.

“You would know if you had, they’re a fun bunch.” You can practically hear the smile in his voice. “You should go.”

You rest your chin on your hand, other hand still cradling your phone. “Think so?”

He plates the food (How does he do that so quickly?!) and turns to you. “I do, but I understand being nervous about it.”

“Do you get nervous around new people?” you ask.

“Not so much anymore. I deal with new people here all the time. I used to though. A movie night is different than work, though. I still think you should say yes.,”

With that, he walks past you and back out into the restaurant. You look back to your phone, biting your lip nervously. Maybe you should listen to Grillby, if it’s during work hours he might let you go a little early… that makes you feel bad though, he really does need more help running this place.

You sigh and start typing a reply.

**Thanks for the invite! What time is it?**


	5. Whiskey Sour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recipe:
> 
> 1\. Combine bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with ice, cover, and shake vigorously until outside of shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds.  
> 2\. Strain cocktail through a Hawthorne strainer or a slotted spoon into an old-fashioned or rocks glass filled with ice.
> 
>  
> 
> Hey y'all! Slowly but surely, I'm coming out of a major depressive episode. Hopefully I can get back to writing soon and have more chapters ready to go soon! :)  
> Thanks for sticking with me! Don't forget to leave me a comment after reading! <3
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Paige

You sit on your couch in the early morning hours, computer in your lap and coffee in your hands. Not having to go into work today, you know you could’ve easily slept in, but sometimes these quiet mornings are a godsend.

There are multiple tabs open on your browser. All of them are from a small business website you love. As much as you hate reading, you don’t mind forcing yourself to do so if it means getting your hands on another sculpture for your collection.

You glance up at the row of shelves lining the wall above your television. Organized in a way that probably only makes sense to you are many figurines and trinkets, all made of glass. You aren’t really sure when you started collecting. It just sort of happened. When you think about it it’s kind of funny someone who can be so klutzy would like such delicate things. Over the years you’ve acquired everything from candlesticks, to different animals, to just random designs that intrigued you when you spotted it.

Now you’ve got your eye on a blown glass vase made by an artist you’ve bought multiple pieces from. Their work is impeccable and you know this one would not disappoint and fit right in with the others. You normally don’t gravitate toward vases, but the way this one starts out as a seafoam type of color and spirals upward into shades of orange and purples, flaring out at the top really caught your eye. It’s really quite lovely, and you’ve been staring at it for a while now.

Before you make any decisions, you click over to the seller’s main page to see if they’ve posted anything new in the last few days. There’ve only been two additions. Both of them are small and detailed  motorcycles… something you just didn’t care to buy any memorabilia of.

You quickly click back over to the vase tab and smile as your cursor hovers over the ‘add to cart’ button. You have a good bit of money saved up right now, it wouldn’t be a huge deal now that you have a job again. You just have to indulge yourself on this work of art. In just a few short minutes it becomes yours, and you can’t wait to get a shipment confirmation email!

Closing out the tab, the one with the motorcycle sculptures pops back into view. Your smile falls, but you scroll down the page anyway. Seeing them brings up memories that are rather painful now. If you close your eyes, you would feel the wind on your face and smell the lovely scent of leather as you’d bury your face into the back of  _ his  _ jacket.

But you don’t, you don’t close your eyes, you don’t let yourself remember that, no matter what your last therapist told you about allowing yourself to think of the happier times of your past. That hurts too much. You continue to scroll, though. 

The colors and designs of the glass figurines are stunning, and it makes you wonder just how much time the artist puts into each one, and how they make such complicated looking designs You’ve watched plenty of videos online out of curiosity to see how glass is made and these don’t look like anything you’ve seen anywhere else.

The vibration of your phone pulls your attention away from the screen and you open it up to read a new message.

**Alex S.**   
Hey girl! Are you still coming to the party tonight??

You nibble at the inside of your lip. You still aren’t a hundred percent on going to the party. Grillby’s voice speaks from the back of your mind though, telling you that you should go since you’ll probably have a good time. Taking a deep breath, you slowly type out your answer.

**I am.**

It doesn’t take long for Alex to message back a ton of smiley emojis. You just smile and lay your phone back down before returning to your laptop, where you continue admiring works of art that you’ll probably end up buying at a later date. It wouldn’t hurt to add one or two to your wishlist for later, after all.

 

* * *

 

The bar is closed today, but that doesn’t stop Grillby from driving over there to check on things. After the first few years on the surface dealing with humans who were less than excited about monsters, he’s gotten into some sort of paranoid habits. It didn’t take him long to make sure everything is set up for the next work day and close up again. Now on his way home, he feels a little more calm. Even a short ride on his motorbike helps to slow much of the restlessness his soul is dealing with.

It’s almost…  _ that time  _ of year, after all. 

This is a time Grillby absolutely hates because it’s so unnecessary, distracting, and just another reminder that, no, he hasn’t bonded Souls with someone after all these years. His magic will flare up. His Soul will aggravate the hell out of him. t’s just going to be a bit of a nightmare for a week.

Normally he can work through it. He may cut back hours on the bar just a bit on the worst days, but since there’s nobody he’s really interested in, he can focus on work pretty easily most of the time. Of course, he has to think about how…  _ heats _ (Stars, he hates calling them that. Probably because it’s just a shit pun to begin with) might affect any employees of his, the only one being you at the moment. The instability of his magic can have an impact on those around him, and while it might not bother customers since they don’t stay too long, it could definitely affect someone he’s around the entire day. It might be beneficial to bring on another employee, now that he’s thinking on it.

 

He pulls up into his driveway and uses a button on his keychain to open the garage door. He pulls the bike in and parks it, closing the door behind him. Fumbling with his keys, he finds the one to the door and enters his home. 

Silence falls over him like a heavy blanket as he tosses his keys and wallet onto the small end table in the walkway. He removes his thick, leather jacket and hangs it with care on the wooden coat rack. 

In no rush at all, Grillby walks further into his house, passing by the kitchen and through the living room as he makes his way to the back of the house. He lazily tugs off his shirt as he enters his bedroom, tossing it into the nearby hamper before changing out his jeans for a comfortable pair of sweatpants.

His bare feet make barely any noise on the hardwood floor as he walks back out of his bedroom and down the hall to his favorite spot in the house: the sunroom. It was the deciding factor for this house. Grillby doesn't need all three bedrooms in the house, really, but once he saw this particular room, he had made up his mind. It helped having an extra room when he was training Alex on how to use her fire magic several times a week, too.

He steps inside and immediately takes his usual seat on the padded bench near the windowed wall. Pulling his legs up under him, he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, closing his eyes.

Most of the time when he meditates, it’s for a particular reason. Whether it's to focus on his magic, his soul, or some sort of emotion he needs to sort out. Right now, though, he has no focus. He can't even think of anything to focus on. His mind is completely blank, and quite honestly, he just feels numb.

So he starts thinking about something he knows well: his work. He concentrates on his job and what he enjoys about tending the bar. Hearing from friends is nice, so is being able to just be an unbiased source for many to vent their problems to, as well as the actual cooking and drink mixing part of it.

The bar itself, the regulars, the new customers, his employees… well singular now. As his thoughts drift to you, he remembers early the day before when the two of you worked on shipment. He couldn't help but be a little concerned for you after seeing you work your first day. You'd try to not knock into anything, but ended up doing that several times, so he decided to keep an eye on you after that. While working on shipment, you were significantly better with your slip ups, though there were still a couple of them. You kept pushing forward, though, and he really admires that.

He also admires the way you always keep busy and ask what you can do next after each job is finished. You're not afraid to step up to any challenge, despite you having trouble reading and writing…

_ You also smell wonderful. _

He'd noticed your scent on your first day, sweet, with just a slight hint of citrus. He's unsure if it’s a perfume or not, but it's a nice change to the normal smell of the bar, regardless.

A vibration from the phone in his pocket snaps him out of his haze and he pulls it out to see who's messaging him on his day off.

**Sans:**

so you might need to help alex out some more with that fire sword trick

 

Grillby chuckles softly, typing out his reply

 

**She still having trouble?**

 

The next notification is almost immediate.

 

**Sans:**

she's real  _ hot headed _ at the moment. i knew she wouldn't want to ask for more help, so i figured i’d step in.

 

That sounds a lot like Alex to Grillby. She's so determined to conquer any issue that it's a wonder she isn't a red soul.

 

**I'm always here to help, but you'll have to convince her to come by the bar so we can compare schedules and set up a time.**

 

Grillby can practically hear Sans groaning at that answer before he even gets his reply.

 

**Sans:**

i’ll try but you know how she is

 

He rolls his eyes, biting back the retort of her being just like him, and puts his phone on silent before pocketing it again. 

Actively trying to clear his mind again, he closes his eyes and takes long, deep breaths, relaxing his body as he sits in the sunlight.

 

He tunes into the silence of the house once again, attempting to embrace it rather than let it drive him insane.

 


	6. Sake Bomb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ingredients:   
> 1 shot (1 part) Sake  
> 1 pint (~14 parts) Beer
> 
> Preparation: The shot of sake is dropped into the beer, causing it to fizz violently. The drink should then be consumed immediately.  
> \--------------------------
> 
> OH HEY, IT'S BEEN A BIT!
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates, I haven't been in the mood to write much. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life and I've just been a bit scattered. I'm gonna try to get back to it, but forgive me if I don't post too often! >.< I do plan on finishing the stories I've started, it will just take a little longer than I thought, probably. I love all of you, and I thank you for sticking by me and my writing!
> 
> Please leave a comment after reading! It helps motivate me to keep writing! :D  
> Enjoy!  
> -Paige

Alex stands in her kitchen, making sure all the preparations are in order. The pizza is in the oven, she’s stocked up on enough alcohol for Undyne, there’s a large tub of cookie dough in the fridge, and Netflix is already brought up on the television. All that’s left is for the guests to arrive!

She’s a little surprised, in a good way, that you agreed to come over. You seem a little on the shy side, but Alex gets that. She gets anxious about making new friends. She just hopes you’ll get along with the others like she does.

There’s a shift of magic in the room and Alex smiles as Sans walks up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she studies the directions on the frozen pizza box.

“everything set to go?” he asks, setting his chin on her shoulder.

“Yep!” She sets the box down and turns to face him. “Are you and Paps gonna join us?”

“heh, no thanks. i know how you three get when you’re together,” he says with a smile, “i’m going over to the coffee shop and wait for pap to get off and we’ll probably go find something to do.”

Alex wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his cheekbone. “Alright, well you two don’t get into too much trouble, and don’t be afraid to crash the party later if you’d like.”

“we’ll see about that.” He catches her chin and kisses her lips, feeling her smile against his.

“By the way,” she says as they part, “guess who else is coming over?”

He blinks in surprise and asks, “did you convince angel?”

“I sure did!” Alex squeals, “I can’t wait to introduce her to the others!”

Sans smirks. “she’s going to be so mad when you introduce her as ‘angel’ and not her actual name.”

She giggles and picks the pizza back up again to look at the instructions, setting the timer and temperature on the stove. “I know she will, which is why I’m even more eager to do it!”

He laughs and shakes his head. “you’re so mean to that poor girl.”

Alex gapes, eyes narrowing. “Excuse me, sir, but you are just as guilty as I am!”

He feigns offense, pointing to himself. “me?!”

She laughs loudly, bopping him on the skull gently with the frozen pizza before putting it onto a baking sheet. “You goober. You better be glad I love you.”

“oh i certainly am,” he says, moving back to her.

She laughs and lets Sans hug her again, just a little more tightly this time. Sighing happily, she leans her head on his shoulder.

“don’t have too much fun without me.”

A playful smile crosses her lips. “Don’t worry, I will.”

 

* * *

 

_ This is the place, right? _

You get out of your car and look at the house you’ve arrived at. It looks fairly new, and well maintained on the outside with it’s trimmed hedges and flower patches. You look to the front door to see the address number that confirms this is Alex and Sans’ house.

For a moment you want to turn and run. It’d be easy -she probably hasn’t seen you yet. You could easily go back home and spend the rest of the night in your pajamas and make up a very plausible excuse for standing her up. You’ve got enough practice with that. 

But you do your best to force that idea away. You need to push yourself more, and you know it.

Taking a deep breath, you coax yourself into approaching the front door and ringing the doorbell before you can talk yourself out of it. It doesn't take long at all for the door to swing open, revealing a smiling Alex in a onesie with a pizza print on it.

“Angel!!” she exclaims.

You sigh heavily, even though your lips kind of want to twitch up in a smile. “Are you ever going to let me tell you my real name?”

Alex just smiles mischievously and reaches out, taking your arm and pulling you inside.

As soon as you walk inside, you're in awe. You are impressed - and a little intimidated truth be told - with the outside but inside it's even better. The house seems very spacious, the kitchen is immediately across from the front door in its own section, but to your right you can see the entirety of the living room.

“Woah, nice place,” you breathe.

Alex laughs. “Thank you! Still paying it off, but there's three of us to cover the bill, so it isn't too bad.” 

“Three?” you ask, “who besides you and Sans?”

“Oh, his brother, Papyrus!”

Papyrus… where have you heard that name?

“Does he work at a coffee shop?” you blurt out, suddenly remembering the tall skeleton who took your order the other day. It makes sense the two skeleton monsters are related, but you start to panic since you don’t want to seem insensitive. Do monsters that are related look alike? Are you being monsterphobic?

Alex stops your panicked thoughts as she says proudly, “Yes! He's actually a manager there now! He loves that place.”

You smile and grab onto the conversation topic. “That's good! He seemed really nice when I ordered coffee from there.” 

“Oh he's an absolute sweetheart. The complete opposite of Sans too… though they are both loving.”

Alex starts walking into the kitchen, bringing you along with her. There’s a pizza on one of the counters and you can smell what you think are cookies baking in the oven. 

“We got pizza, cookies, lots of snack foods in the pantry. Oh! And booze!” she says, pointing to the fridge, “and soda as well, just in case… do you drink?”

“Sometimes,” you tell her, “not a whole lot though. I don’t like being drunk.”

“I can respect that!” Alex smiles. “I probably shouldn’t get as drunk as I do during parties, but Undyne makes that a bit difficult sometimes.”

Wasn’t Undyne one of the names Grillby mentioned?

“So who all is coming?” you ask, still just awkwardly standing in the middle of the kitchen.

“My two good friends, Undyne and Alphys! They actually got married a few months ago and this is the first time we’ve really been able to hang out like this. I’m so excited for you to meet them!”

As if on cue, there’s a few quick, loud raps on the front door. Alex excuses herself for only a few moments, coming back with two monsters in tow. One of them is very tall and fish-like. She has deep blue skin - scales? - and bright red hair, and an eye patch covers her left eye. The other monster is much shorter and resembles a dinosaur with bright yellow skin and wire-framed glasses.

“Angel, this is Undyne and Alphys, two of my very best friends!” Alex says proudly, gesturing to each one respectively.

“So this is Grillby’s new girl, huh?” Undyne steps forward and extends her hand, you barely reach out when she grabs your hand tightly in hers and shakes very,  _ very  _ firmly.

“New girl?” 

“Wh-what she means is n-new employee,” Alphys says, taking a step toward you and extending her own hand once Undyne is done nearly breaking yours. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve only been working there a few days,” you say, smiling and taking Alphys’ hand gently to shake. “It’s nice to meet both of you! I’ve heard good things.”

“If it’s from Alex, that’s a damn lie,” Undyne jokes, lightly hitting Alex’s shoulder.

“Oh shush, you know I gush about you two nerds all the time,” Alex says, hitting her back.

Undyne turns back to you with a wide, toothy grin. “So, punk, what are some things you’re into?”

You fidget nervously with your hands. “I, well, I really like listening to music and watching movies.”

“Wh-what kinds of movies do you like?” Alphys asks.

“I’m not really picky,” you tell her truthfully.

“What’s your thoughts on anime?” Undyne asks, a bit of excitement in her voice.

“I don’t know much about it.” 

Undyne’s eye widens and she quickly turns to Alex. “We have to fix this, Alex!”

Alex lets out a sigh. “We watch anime  _ all the time _ , why not something different?”

The couple gasps, Undyne being the one to blurt out, “Are you saying you’ve had enough anime?!”

“Oh my god.” Alex groans as she begins to walk over to the fridge. “Before we decide on watching something, we really should get settled. Everyone grab some food and a drink and head to the living room.”

 

* * *

 

The four of you end up settling on some random sci fi series on Netflix that peaked everyone’s interest, though nobody really ends up paying attention once the alcohol is flowing. It isn’t long before the three of them are tipsy as hell, and you have a minor buzz thanks to the single glass of wine you drank.

You haven’t been talking a whole lot, only when asked questions, but you’ve already learned a lot about the three of them. Apparently the first time they had Alex over, they had a wild night of “never have I ever” and the next time, Alex had gotten drunk and ended up with a tattoo.

“That first night was also when I first learned about my soul!” Alex blurts out, pointing at Undyne, “Remember?”

“Oh yeah! I was surprised at you having a kind soul because you can be a real bitch!” Undyne teases her.

“And you’re still fucking rude for that.” Alex says it with a smile so you suppose she really doesn’t mean that.

“You’re still one of the k-kindest people I know,” Alphys speaks up.

Alex scoots closer to her on the sofa and wraps an arm around her, pulling her into a hug, “Awww! Alphys! This is why you’re my favorite!”

“Hey, I’ll remember that at work, punk!”

You laugh quietly at the three, even though you still feel slightly like an outcast. You really enjoy the energy that they bring to the room.

“Do you know about your Soul?” Alex asks, pointing her beer bottle toward you.

“I only know that everyone has one, and that they have different traits,” you say, remembering a monster documentary you watched a few months back.

“Ooh! We should show you yours!” Undyne sits up straight, pumping her fist in the air.

“Hey, you pulled mine out last time!” Alex says. “Now that I have magic, I should be the one to do it!”

Undyne laughs. “You’re still new to this, maybe you should let an expert go at it.”

“I know what to do! I pull Sans’ soul out all the time!”

“Oh I’m sure you do!” Undyne says with a smirk.

You’re still sitting there confused, but the two monsters are snickering and Alex looks a little annoyed.

“W-we need to make sure sh-she wants to see hers.” Alphys tells them before turning to you, and asking, “Angel, d-do you want to see your Soul?”

“Will it hurt?” you ask.

“Not at all!” Alex says, standing from her spot and walking over to the chair where you’re sitting, “It may feel a little strange, but it won’t be painful… you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to though!”

You’d feel a little bad saying no now that Alex is here and clearly very excited. It feels like saying no could potentially hinder the friendship you’ve started with her...and you have so few friends right now. She says it won’t hurt though, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little curious.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” you say. Your voice sounds a lot more sure than you feel.

Alex smiles ever wider. “Awesome! Alright, I want you to just relax back in your seat and close your eyes.”

The others watch closely as you sit back into the soft chair and slowly close your eyes. You’re definitely nervous, but you try to slow your breath and keep calm. There’s a pulling sensation in your chest, and your body wants to follow, but you do your best to stay put. Suddenly, you’re met with a feeling of emptiness and you feel slightly cold.

“It’s patience!” you hear Alex squeal.

You open your eyes to see a cyan heart floating above Alex’s hand. Looking at it, you’re struck with a sense of familiarity and comfort.

“Patience?” you repeat.

“Yep! And your stats…” Alex squints, focusing in on your soul, “Woah, your HP is pretty low.”

“HP?” 

“L-let me see.” Alphys says, walking over. Undyne also follows and you start to feel a little crowded with all three of them here.

Alphys adjusts her glasses and looks closely at the heart. “It is fairly low, b-but the rest of your stats look good.”

“What does that mean?” you ask, beginning to get worried, “Is there something wrong with me?”

“No!” they all ring out.

“Not at all,” Alex assures you. “Your HP is basically your health bar, like in a video game. Yours is a little low, but that’s alright! Sans has low HP too!”

You furrow your brows. Does that mean you’re going to die sooner or something? At this point, you’re too afraid to ask. It’s too much to take in at once when you really don’t know the details.

“Don’t worry, pal!” Undyne lovingly hits your arm. “You’re fine!”

“I haven’t known you for long, but I feel like patience suits you well,” Alex says, putting her hand up to the side of your soul and pushing it back to your chest where it pops in easily. You instantly feel warm again.

“I agree,” Alphys says. “You seem like a patient person.”

“It’s a good thing too! Because none of us are!” Undyne says, her teeth shining bright as she grins.

“True, true,” Alex says. “Thanks for letting me do that! It was really cool.”

You smile at Alex, her brown eyes twinkling. “Thanks for showing it to me.”

The three of them go back to their seats while you still try to tell yourself that you are, indeed, fine. Though you aren’t sure you’re very convincing. Not even to yourself.

“So what’s it like working for Grillby?” Alex asks you.

“Well, like I said I’ve only been there a few days, but it’s been good so far!”

“That’s good! He helps train me with my fire magic, and I know he can get a little  _ hot headed _ with me at times,” she laughs.

“Probably because you go off first, nerd,” Undyne says after downing the rest of her drink. “I’d be angry too if I had to train you constantly.”

“Ok, fucking rude!” Alex says, though her smile doesn’t waver. “Anyway, I was just curious if working for him was anything like that.”

“I haven’t seen him mad, yet,” you tell her, “he’s been really nice.”

“Grillby has always b-been kind,” Alphys says.

“Yeah, it’s weird how he’s still single, honestly!” Undyne says. “You’d think someone out there would’ve snatched him up already!”

“He’s single?!” You’re unable to stop the words in your surprised state.

All three of them turn to look at you, eyes wide. You shrink down slightly under their gazes.

Undyne starts to cackle. “Woah, Angel, I didn’t realize you were so interested in your boss!”

Realization hits you and your face begins to burn. “N-no! I thought he was married or something!”

“Uh huh,  _ suuure _ you did!” Undyne throws her head back in laughter.

Alex is chuckling, but she just shrugs at you. “Hey, I can’t blame you, he’s definitely not a bad looking guy.”

You sputter. “I’m not-”

“He’s very s-soft-spoken and well mannered,” Alphys adds.

“And he cooks a mean burger, not to mention those mixed drinks! Speaking of drinks...” Undyne says as she gets up to go grab another drink from the kitchen.

“Yeah, he’s got a lot of pretty sweet qualities,” Alex says. “It’s easy to see why you’d have a little crush.”

You have to be bright red, and you feel just a little irritated that they aren’t listening to you. “I’ve only known him for like, four days!”

“I’m pretty sure Alex had a crush on Sans after day one!” Undyne comes back with a beer in each hand.

“It’s t-true, you fell pretty hard for him.” Alphys smiles over at her.

Alex’s cheeks are slightly pink as she takes one of the beers from Undyne, “Oh hush you two.”

“It was denial hell for her,” Undyne says to you specifically. “You shouldn’t let yourself go through that too.”

“I don’t have a crush on him!” you say again. “And even if I did, which I do  _ not _ , he’s my boss. There’s gotta be rules against that.”

“What did I just say?!” Undyne gapes at you.

Alex bursts into loud laughter. “Okay, okay Undyne, let’s give her a break.”

“Y-yeah, she’s new after all,” Alphys says, smiling apologetically at you.

“Hehe, sorry, sometimes I can get a little carried away,” Undyne tells you.

“It’s okay,” You start, “I-”

“Though I still don’t believe you.”

The smirk on Undyne’s face is just as annoying as it is hilarious. You let out a sigh and sit comfortably back in the chair again, deciding not to give into her teasing.

Thankfully, they don't pick on you anymore, and soon you all settle on a variety of new subjects. None of them thankfully have to do with accusing you of having a crush on your boss. As it grows even later, you end up participating in the conversation more often, and it isn't long before you really start to feel like a part of the group.

A tiny part… but a part nonetheless.


	7. Death in the Afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ingredients: 1 jigger Absinthe, 1 flute Champagne
> 
> Preparation: Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness.
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> I PROMISE I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS, OR YOU!
> 
> A loootttt has been going on in my life and I haven't been active, and I apologize. I haven't given up on this story, or the Dancetale one I started, It's just taking me a bit of time to be able to get things done. I actually posted a pretty personal update to my Tumblr today, and I updated the Goopster blog! Please check those out!
> 
> I am actually very excited about this chapter :) And I do hope you lovely readers comment on it! 
> 
> Enjoy!!  
> -Paige

The rest of your first week working at Grillby’s goes by pretty quickly, and with minimal issues on your part. You’re beginning to rather enjoy working for your new boss, who you’ve begun to notice is nearly silent unless spoken to. It makes for a quiet, relaxing work environment during slower times in the day. 

On the extremely busy days, though, the two of you can’t seem to catch a break. Alex had actually jumped in to help one evening before recommending to Grillby that he “hire more workers before the after-work crowd eats him alive.” The very next day you saw that Grillby had actually printed out job applications and set them under the bar, as well as put up a “now hiring” sign at the front. You’ve seen a couple of people come in asking about it so far, but it isn’t until tonight that you’ve heard Grillby mention interviews.

Another thing that you’ve become accustomed to is your nickname, Angel. At first, it was a little annoying, but now you’re starting to feel like it’s actually your name. Grillby has been calling you that along with everyone else, and you find it rather endearing. 

There’s still 3 hours before closing time, but the crowd seems to be dwindling, surprisingly. You’re cleaning off one of the tables when you hear Sans talking to Grillby at the bar.

“hm, maybe i should apply for a job here.” Sans says with a chuckle.

“I need someone who will actually work.” Grillby replies wryly.

You can’t help but snicker to yourself. There’s a lot of enjoyment in listening to those two banter. Sans makes jokes about nearly everything and Grillby seems to always retort with dry humor. 

“heh, you know i’m always-”

There’s a gasp and bout of silence that causes you to stop what you’re doing and turn around to see Grillby staring wide eyed at his top, which now has a large stripe of ketchup across it.

“shit! sorry, grillbz! the bottle  _ mustard  _ have been fuller than i thought.”

Grillby’s eyes narrow slightly at the skeleton.

“didn’t mean  _ tomato  _ your clothes dirty… but on the bright side, all you need is a bun and you’d make a perfect  _ hot dog _ .” Sans jokes, smiling widely at the bartender.

Grillby sighs and quietly turns and walks into the back. Sans is lost in a fit of laughter as soon as he’s through the door. You can’t help but smirk a little, though you do feel bad for Grillby. Having finished cleaning, you walk over to Sans, who is still downing the bottle of ketchup. This has become a normal sight for you now.

“Think he’s gonna be able to get the stains out?” You ask.

Sans just shrugs and reaches for a napkin holster on the counter only to realize it’s empty. You just smile and wipe the remainder of the ketchup off the bar for him with the rag you were using on the other table.

“thanks, kid. may want to put more napkins up here though.” 

“There should be some behind the bar.” You say, making your way around it. You look at the shelves and cabinets in search of a pack of napkins, but can’t find anything. “That’s weird, I try to make sure there’s always extra ones here.”

“better  _ clean up _ your act, angel, looks like you’re slacking” Sans says as he continues to nonchalantly drink from the bottle.

You roll your eyes, though you smile at his pun, “Oh hush you, I’ll just run to the back and get some more.”

“i’ll be waiting.” he says with a lazy smile.

As you make your way to the back door, you swear you hear Sans chuckle, but you look back to see him just tapping away a message on his phone, face blank. You shake your head and push the door open and step into the back room.

You think on how weird the situation is as you walk. One thing you do throughout the day is consistently make sure all the napkin containers are filled and that there are always extra packs behind the bar. You don’t remember running out of any, though it’s definitely possible that you did during busier hours and just forgot to restock. Either way, you still feel that it’s strange.

Entering the kitchen, you’re about to go open the cabinet that holds the napkins, when something makes you freeze.

That something is your boss

And you’re freezing because he is half naked, and working his arm into the sleeve of an unstained white button-up shirt. Your gaze is suddenly drawn to his stomach. How the hell does  _ fire  _ have  _ abs _ ?? Not to mention the nicely toned arms and shoulders.

When your eyes finally meet his, you suddenly realize he has spotted you. Your face heats up immensely.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” You squeak out, covering your eyes, “I didn’t realize you were in here, Ijustneedtogetnapkins.”

There’s a stretch of silence before he says “It’s alright. I’m just changing shirts.”

You feel even more awkward, still trying to avoid looking at him as you rush over to the cabinet and quickly grab a large pack of napkins and start back to the bar.

“Sorry again, sir!” You yell back at him.

You rush through the door and slam it, pressing your back to it. It isn’t until you hear a familiar laugh that you focus on anything else. Slowly turning your head, you see Sans absolutely cracking up. You narrow your eyes at him… he was the one who caused you to go back there in the first place. As you near him, he’s nearly inconsolable in his laughter.

“kid, are you sure you didn’t get ketchup on you too?!” He points to your face, “because i’m seeing a loottta red up there.”

You have a sneaking suspicion that he might have had something to do with the missing napkins, but you simply grab your cleaning supplies and start on another table, completely ignoring him for the rest of the night. 

And trying not to look your boss directly in the eye.

\---

Alex is sitting on the couch, flipping through tv channels when she feels the change in the room. She smirks to herself.

“guess what, babe.” Sans says, walking over and plopping down next to her.

“You did not.” She says, looking to him. Sans had sent her a message about playing a prank on Angel, but she didn’t think he’d do it.

He nods, “i didn’t know she would react so strongly! you really should’ve seen her face, alex, it was hilarious.”

Alex chuckles, shaking her head, “Oh my god, Sans. You’re horrible.”

He laughs loudly, “oh like you wouldn’t have done the same thing if you were there?! gimme a break!”

“Okay, okay… maybe I would’ve.” She admits, “But still!”

“she wouldn’t even look at me the rest of the time i was there, and she was really adamant about not being too close to grillby too.” 

Alex playfully pushes his shoulder, “Sans! Poor Angel!”

He’s still cackling, and she can’t help but fall into a giggling fit herself.

“SANS, YOU BETTER NOT BE HARASSING THAT POOR GIRL AGAIN!” Papyrus shouts, stepping out from the kitchen in his apron and chef hat.

“aw, pap, i’m not doing anything to hurt her.” Sans tries to convince him.

Papyrus squints at him, making Alex giggle again, which makes him shift his gaze to her.

“YOU ARE NOT INNOCENT IN THIS EITHER, ALEX!”

She only laughs harder, to which Papyrus lets out a huff, his hands going to his hip bones. “YOU TWO KEEP MESSING WITH HER AND SHE’S GOING TO QUIT WORKING THERE!”

“Aw, Sans, maybe he’s right.” Alex says, trying to calm herself down, “Maybe we’re being too mean to her.”

Sans looks at her and there’s a brief pause before they’re in hysterics again. Papyrus runs a hand over his face, sighing as the bone scrapes together.

“I AM GOING TO HAVE TO GO AND REALLY MEET HER IN PERSON AND SAVE HER FROM YOU TWO  _ BONEHEADS! _ ”

Alex squeals, “Papyrus made a pun!!”

“hey that’s what… the fourth time this week.” Sans says, “we must be really rubbing off on him!”

“NYEH! I CAN MAKE PUNS WHEN I WANT! I JUST WAIT UNTIL I HAVE GOOD ONES, UNLIKE YOU BROTHER!”

Sans gasps and tears begin to run down Alex’s cheeks as she’s having a hard time getting full breaths between laughs. 

“paps, that really breaks my heart.” Sans says, placing his hand on his chest.

“YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE A HEART!”


	8. Coco Loco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ingredients :  
> \- 1 oz rum (dark)  
> \- 1 oz rum  
> \- 1/2 oz vodka  
> \- 1/2 oz creme de bananes  
> \- 1/2 oz apple juice  
> \- 1/2 oz coconut cream  
> \- 1/2 oz sugar syrup
> 
> Pour the rums, vodka, creme de bananes, pineapple juice, coconut cream and sugar syrup into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, and strain into a chilled highball glass. Garnish with a pineapple wedge, and serve. 
> 
> \-------
> 
> Apologies for my scattered updates and short chapters! I really need to actually finish the next chapter to Three to Tango but my brain doesn't want to help out >.<
> 
> Almost done with the main classes and homework for Yoga Teacher Training! So I'll have a bit more free time soon, hopefully, maybe. This all depends on me having the motivation and inspiration to write lol. I kinda miss the first year that Undertale was out. I had hopped into the fanfic scene at the right time and I'm a little sad its kinda fizzled out since D It'd help if I actually put out regular content though.
> 
> ...What was I saying? Idk. I hope you're all having a great week and that you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> -Paige

You step into the coffee shop, looking around for Alex, who had messaged you very late last night asking you to meet with her there this morning. Your eyes find her in one of the chairs near the far left wall and she smiles, waving you over. 

“I need to go order my coffee.” You tell her, setting your purse in the chair beside her.

“No need! I ordered for both of us.” She says with a smile, “It’s why I asked what coffee you like last night! Papyrus will bring them over.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” You tell her, feeling just a little uncomfortable as you sit down. You appreciate her getting your coffee, but… well, you just aren’t used to gifts anymore.

“It’s no problem! You can get mine next time if you really want.” She says cheerfully.

You smile, “I might take you up on that. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Welllll…” She sits back, clasping her hands together in her lap, “I kinda want to apologize for what Sans did the other night.”

“So it  _ was  _ him!” You say a little louder than you mean to, “I knew I didn’t  misplace those napkins!”

Alex lets out a snort and covers her mouth and nose as she laughs, “Yeah. he was using magic. I’m sorry.”

You sigh, “It’s okay. I’m just glad I’m not going crazy. Though I will say, it was a little awkward between me and Grillby until the middle of yesterday. It’s alright now though.”

She looks at you a little more apologetically now, “I’m sorry, he really shouldn’t have messed with you like that.”

“ALEX, YOU BETTER NOT BE OVER HERE PUTTING ALL THE BLAME ON SANS!”

You look up to the loud voice and see the tall skeleton you now know as Papyrus, Sans brother. He sets two cups of coffee down on the coffee table in front of the chairs and looks to you with a smile.

“YOU MUST BE ANGEL, I’VE SEEN YOU IN HERE MANY TIMES BUT I DON’T BELIEVE WE’VE MET.” He extends his hand, “MY NAME IS PAPYRUS.”

“Oh, Pap? Not  _ the great  _ Papyrus?” Alex says, raising a brow.

“MY BOSS TOLD ME THAT I SHOULD JUST GO BY PAPYRUS WHEN INTRODUCING MYSELF SINCE IT ISN’T AS LONG. BUT YES, OUTSIDE OF HERE, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

You smile, he is the epitome of enthusiasm. His smile falls after just a moment though and he meets your gaze again.

“ANGEL, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE ON SANS  _ AND- _ ” He looks pointedly at Alex, “ALEX’S BEHALF, BECAUSE I KNOW THEY BOTH HAVE BEEN PICKING ON YOU AND I KEEP TELLING THEM TO STOP!”

You can’t help but smile as you look over at Alex, whose cheeks are now pink.

“Hey, I wasn’t that bad. I didn’t cause her to see Grillby shirtless!” 

Those words just bring back the embarrassment and you lay your face into one of your hands.

“YOU STILL PICKED ON HER!” He says before stepping closer and laying his large hand on your shoulder, “ANGEL, IF THEY KEEP ON DOING THINGS LIKE THIS, WILL YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW? I CAN GIVE YOU MY PHONE NUMBER!”

You smirk over at Alex and take out your phone, pulling up the dialing screen before handing it over to him. He takes it and immediately begins typing in his number.

“I wasn’t  _ as  _ mean.” Alex looks to you, “Was I?”

You chuckle, “No. And I’m not mad at either of you.”

“Oh that has to be a lie. Surely you’re a little mad at Sans.”

“I was, but now it’s fine.” You say truthfully.

“HERE YOU ARE, MY NEW FRIEND ANGEL!” Papyrus says, handing your phone back, “FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE OR CALL ME WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE!”

You smile widely at him, “Thank you, Papyrus. I will!”

“ALRIGHT, I WILL GET BACK TO WORK THEN!” He glares at Alex, “ALEX, BE NICE TO HER.”

She laughs, “I will, Pap. Don’t worry.”

Papyrus sends you one last sympathetic look before walking off. You pick up your coffee and take a sip, reveling in its deliciousness as always.

“Are you always like that?” You ask, “I mean the way you, Sans, and Papyrus seem to call each other out on stuff?”

“Oh you should see us all at home.” She says with a laugh, “It’d ridiculous. But we all have fun with it.”

“It’s cute.” You say, sipping more of your coffee.

There’s a couple of minutes of silence where you feel like Alex wants to say something, but she doesn’t. Maybe she’s just worried that you’re still upset about the prank, or perhaps that wasn’t all she asked you to meet her here for.

“Sooo,” She starts, “do you actually have a crush on Grillby or…”

You nearly spit out your drink, “No! Oh my god!”

She holds up one of her hands, “Ok, ok, damn. I was just making sure!”

You settle back into your chair, coffee cup at your face in hopes that Alex doesn’t realize you’re blushing once again. How could she just assume that. You’ve only known him a week… Not to mention he’s your BOSS.

“How long have you been living out here, anyway?” She asks.

You sigh to yourself, thankful for the subject change, “I’ve been here a few years now. Moved around a bit before settling in the apartment I’m renting now.”

“Oh nice! I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around before.” 

You shrug, “I don’t go out much. I just work and stay at home.”

She smiles, “Sounds like me a couple of years ago, before I met Sans.”

“Yeah?”

She nods, resting back in her chair, eyes focused elsewhere as she talks, “I really only went out with my best friend, Tara, and she pretty much had to drag me out of my old apartment. But I ended up meeting Undyne, Papyrus, Sans… so many monsters, and I just quickly became like part of their family. So I hang out with them a lot now.”

She sighs happily as she seems to think back on her memories, her eyes closing as she leans her head back.

“Sounds nice.” You say, watching her.

She nods and cracks an eye open at you, “You don’t have a group like that?”

You shake your head, “No, I don’t.”

She frowns, blinking both her eyes open now. She leans forward, setting her coffee back on the table, “Well, we’re gonna have to fix that! How about I invite you out with me and the others sometimes!”

“By others you mean Undyne and Alphys?” You ask.

“Not  _ just  _ them!” She says, “Sometimes I hang out with Tara, Papyrus, Toriel, Frisk-”

“Frisk?” You interrupt, “The kid that broke the barrier?!”

“The one and only!” She says proudly, “They’re getting to be a handful the older they get, but they’re a good kid. Did you want to meet them?”

You can’t stop yourself from smiling, “I… kind of? I just remember seeing them on the news and stuff. They seem really nice.”

“They are! They’re sweet, but also terribly flirty and sassy.” She cringes slightly, “I don’t think I helped with those last two either since I’ve met them.”

You chuckle and sip on your coffee as she tells you about how she first met Frisk and Toriel at a grocery store, not knowing she was going to the same party as they were. 

“After that party I just kinda became one of them.” She says, smiling wider than before, “So yeah, I’m gonna have to introduce you to all of them.”

You try to give a meaningful smile as she continues talking about the monsters. While you’d very much like to make new friends, something inside you is warning against getting attached again.

 

* * *

 

Grillby stands in the backroom of the bar, making sure everything is ready to go for the day’s business. He looks at the wall clock, realizing you’ll be in soon for your shift. He starts to make his way out to the main area, since he knows you usually arrive fairly early.

As he opens the door to the bar, his shirt gets hung on a bit of splintered wood in the door frame, but he catches it before he pulls enough to tear his sleeve. He sighs in relief, he really doesn’t want to ruin  _ another _ shirt this week.

Aaaand now he’s thinking about what happened when he ruined the other shirt. He hadn’t thought anything of you seeing him with his shirt off at first, and he had been flustered mostly from your reaction. He had forgotten how it can be strange and uncomfortable for humans to show too much skin around one another. Sure, he wasn’t going to get naked back here, but many monsters practically walk around half-dressed normally, so he didn’t think to be nervous.

...Not like he does now.

He really,  _ really  _ hopes that he didn’t offend you in some way. It’s been over a day, though, and you seemed to have no issue being around him last time you worked, so he’s probably just overthinking things. Still, he’s your boss, and he needs to be more careful.

He doesn’t have to stand near the bar long before he sees you walking across the lot. Walking to the front door to let you in, Grillby can’t help but smirk as he notices you hurriedly tying your apron on as you walk.

“Hey, Grillby!” You say rather enthusiastically as he lets you in.

“Good morning.” He says, locking the door back, “You seem cheerful today.”

“I met with Alex at the coffee shop before coming in.” You smile at him, “And I got to officially meet Papyrus!”

“How did that go?” Grillby asks as the both of you start toward the back.

“It went well! He ended up scolding her for picking on me, it was hilarious.”

“Picking on you? Alex? Never.” He says with a smile.

You laugh, “She and Sans are something else, huh?”

He holds the back door open for you and follows you in, “You’re telling me. I’ve never seen two people more perfect for one another.”

You hang your purse up on a wall hook and turn to him, “Alright, boss, what should I start with today?”

“I’d like you to start with going through the fridges and freezer and checking stock of all the perishable foods we have so I can put in the order for next week.” He tells you, walking over to the coffee pot to pour his second cup of the day, “Did you want more coffee? I know you said you went to the cafe this morning.”

You smile, “Not right now, I may change my mind in a bit. Thank you though!”

He nods and turns to the fridge, grabbing out the bottle of Bailey’s. Before he turns back, he glances at you, noticing the curious look on your face.

“Is something wrong?” He asks.

You shake your head, blinking a few times, “No, no! Sorry, I was just… thinking about something.”

He watches as you head further into the back toward the freezer, wondering what might be going through your mind right now.

Shrugging it off, he adds his creamer of choice to his coffee and sets out to start the day.


	9. Sundowner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ingredients:  
> 1 1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum.  
> 5 oz pineapple juice.  
> 2 dashes Angostura® bitters.
> 
> \----------
> 
> I was gonna wait a bit to post this chapter but it's my favorite so far and I can't handle it XD
> 
> Please leave a comment belowwww!!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Paige

Alex lays on the bed, her hand running gently over her gray cat, Binx’s, fur. She smiles at his purring as she scrolls through her phone, waiting for Sans to join her for the night. It only takes a few more minutes for the skeleton to step into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

“hey, alex… did ya see the news?”

She furrows her brows, looking up at him, “News? About what?”

Sans taps away on his phone and walks over, turning the screen to show her a breaking news article.

“looks like that stupid hate group is trying to start shit once again.” He says, sitting on the edge of the bed, causing Binx to get up and move onto his lap.

“Traitor.” Alex mutters to the cat before turning her attention back to her boyfriend, “You mean HAM? What did they do this time?”

She can’t help but laugh inwardly at their stupid name. Humans Against Monsters… They literally call themselves HAM and that just shows that they can’t be taken seriously.

“they apparently tried to dig their way to the underground unnoticed to disrupt the core.” He sighs and shakes his head, “they ended up being way off course and actually dug themselves into hotland itself. Apparently more than a few of them suffered severe burns.”

“Good!” Alex says, sitting up, “Serves those idiots right.”

Sans scrolls down the article, “yeah, well, apparently they have more plans. at least that’s what their leader says, plans that won’t fail.”

She laughs aloud this time, “Oh god, what are they going to do this time? Dig themselves into Snowdin and freeze to death?”

“heh, i wouldn’t be surprised.” He sets his phone down and looks to her, “still, they need to be watched. i know their efforts have been laughable, but you remember how it all started.”

He doesn’t have to say anything further, Alex still has nightmares about being trapped and tortured in that old warehouse. She still remembers her friend, Derek, who died in the fire that burned the place down. It was a fucked up situation, one that she doesn’t care to discuss all that much.

“hey, i didn’t mean to upset you or anything.” Sans says, laying his hand on one of hers.

She smiles softly to him, “I know you didn’t. It’s fine. As much as I want to hope they’re just a bunch of idiots, you’re right, they can still be an actual threat.”

Sans leans in, nuzzling her cheek. She giggles and turns her head to press a kiss between his eye sockets.

“i just don’t want to see you hurt again.” Sans says, his tone serious, though she knows him well enough to detect the slight bit of fear there as well.

“I know. I don’t want you hurt either, boney.” She reaches out to wrap her arms around him, “So it looks like we’re both just gonna have to keep an eye out, hm?”

“already two ahead of you.” He smirks, taking the index fingers of both his hands and literally inserting them into his eye sockets.

Alex unwraps her arms and lightly pushes him, “That’s it, you’re sleeping on the couch. I’m only sharing the bed with Binx tonight.”

Sans smiles,  “aw, c’mon babe. you know you’d be _bonely_ up here without me.”

She rolls her eyes, “As if I haven’t heard you use that one a million times.”

There’s a moment of silence where they simply stare at each other before bursting into laughter. This is pretty much the nightly routine for them. Get in bed and make jokes… or have sex.

Hell, most of the time it ends up being both.

As the laughter dies down, Sans picks Binx up and places him at the foot of the bed before crawling over Alex to lay on his usual side. Using his magic, he flips the light switch, leaving the room only lit by the moonlight flooding in through the window.

“You’re not gonna start escorting me to work and back again every day, are you?” Alex asks as he settles next to her.

Sans chuckles, “can’t make any promises, sweetheart.”

 

* * *

 

The bar is finally closed for the night, and you’re almost done cleaning up the front area. It was a pretty busy day, and you’re glad for it to be over. Just a few more chores left and you’ll be free to let your feet rest for the night.

After making sure the room is clear, you head into the back where you see Grillby leaning back against one of the kitchen counters staring down at his phone with the widest smile you’ve seen yet on his face.

“What’re you so happy about?” You ask as you begin untying your apron.

It takes him a moment to register your words, but the smile stays on his face as he looks to you, “My niece, Fuku, messaged me. She’s overseas for school… it’s been a while since I’ve heard from her.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a niece.” You say, “What’s she studying?”

“Restaurant and Culinary Management, unsurprisingly.” He scrolls down on the screen before turning it to you, “Here she is in Italy. Rome, I believe.”

In the picture you see a fire monster who looks very similar to Grillby, except that her flames are green, and she’s wearing some sort of school uniform. Her eyes are as bright as her smile, and her arm is extended all the way over her head as she waves excitedly to the camera.

“Aw, she’s so pretty!” You say as he pulls the phone back to him. His eyes seem to sparkle behind his glasses as he looks back at the screen.

“She’s a good kid. I’m glad she’s doing well.”

You can’t help but continue to watch as he types out a message on the phone. Grillby’s demeanor is usually calm, his facial expressions nearly nonexistent, so it’s rather surprising seeing him so happy… It’s nice though.

“So is she your brother or sister’s kid?” You ask curiously. For some reason you didn’t expect Grillby to have siblings, you’re unsure why.

“My sister’s.” He says, his smile dropping slightly, “But she was a casualty of the war.”

“The war?”

“The one that ended with us being trapped underground.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” You say… until it clicks, “Wait, HOW OLD ARE YOU?!”

A small chuckle escapes him, “Terribly old. Elementals live a long time.”

You stare at him, dumbfounded. Didn’t that war happen hundreds of years ago?!

“I thought you were in your early thirties or something!” You say breathlessly.

He shrugs, “I might be if I aged as a human, who knows?”

“Wow…” You whisper, “So… were you in the war?”

He nods, “I was.”

“Wait, how old is your niece then?” You realize these questions might be a little too personal, but you’re really curious.

“She’s young, she didn’t hatch for years after we got to the underground.”

You blink a few times, waiting on him to elaborate, but he never does.

“Did… did you say she _hatched_?”

His laugh is a little louder this time, “Yes. Monsters can be born a few different ways. Her parents decided on her growing in an egg form in case something happened to them.”

You bite the inside of your lip, it sounds like her parents had a good feeling of what their fate was, “Was she supposed to hatch at a certain time?”

“No. Monster souls grow until they feel ready to be born.” He tells you, a smirk on his face from your reactions.

“That’s so different from humans.” You say, deciding to take a seat before he tells you something like ‘there are no accidental pregnancies either.’

“Monsters also don’t have accidental pregnancies.”

You stare with wide eyes at him, “HOW?!”

“It’s all about intent and souls.” He says before pushing himself from the counter, “Everything finished out front?”

“Yessir.” You say, taking his swift change in subject as an obvious hint that he’s done with the conversation.

 

You gather your things and follow him out the back door. He locks it behind you and you wait so you can walk with him out to your car, like you have every night since starting work. You've learned he lives close enough to the bar that he actually walks to work, so the gesture is to make sure to see you off safely before he starts home. You’ve offered to drive him, but he politely declined, assuring you that he enjoys the walk.

“Do you have siblings?” He surprises you by asking out of the blue.

“Nope. I’m an only child.” You tell him.

What you don’t tell him is that you were raised by a single mother who was always either working or drinking. You don’t need to go off on any rants about that right now.

“You had everything to yourself, hm?” He smirks, “Must have been nice.”

You smile, “Did you and your sister get along?... if you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s no problem.” He says, “We got along well. Of course, as children we were always fighting, but we grew closer the older we got.”

You look over at him, “That sounds really nice.”

There’s the smallest hint of a smile on his face, his golden eyes looking far off into the distance. A part of you wants to reach out and rest your hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him, but you ignore it. That’s probably too far, he is your boss after all.

“There’s a lot of her in Fuku. I notice it every time I see her.” He says so quietly, in a tone you haven’t heard from him.

“I’m sorry about what happened.” falls from your lips, echoing the softness in his voice.

The two of you stop next to your car, turning to face one another. Grillby’s eyes meet yours curiously, like he’s trying to figure out what you mean.

“I appreciate the sentiment.” He says, “But you are blameless.”

You find yourself smiling again, “I know, but still…”

Silence falls between the both of you, but neither of you make a move to leave. You aren’t sure why you’re still standing here, when you can hop in your car and go. As your eyes meet his again, a shiver runs up your spine, and you try not to make it show.

“Um…” You chime in nervously, “I guess I better get going.”

He nods in understanding, “Be careful going home.”

“You as well.” You say as you take out your keys and start to unlock your car door.

He waits until you are seated inside before he starts walking again.

“Goodnight, Angel.”

You smile at the nickname, “Goodnight, Grillby.”

 

* * *

 

That night you dream about running away with a clown to watch a fireworks show from a large, grassy hill.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [CHAT ME UP ON TUMBLR!](https://fitofpaige17.tumblr.com/)  
>  If you have an Undertale related drabble you'd like me to write, leave your request [HERE!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12651807)
> 
> Also check out my other Undertale fics! Safe Place, Spitfire, This Heart is a Stone, and Up in Flames!


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